Reflection on Cheekwood
The Mexican culture is a culture that is unlike others in many ways, its use of deep tradition to vitalize its culture amongst its people is one of the many ways that Mexico separates itself from other nations. For example, Catholicism serves as the major religion in Mexico as it serves to nearly 90% of the population, and it was introduce to Mexico by the Spaniards who colonized Mexico in 1520. When analyzing Mexican history, there are countless events and individuals that have aided in shaping Mexico into the Nation that people see today. For instance, Hernan Cortez who colonized Mexico, and Christopher Columbus who landed on Mexico on his Conquest from Spain.
Although Mexico has an abundance of these traditions, there still seems to be several misconceptions and erroneous beliefs about Mexico, more specifically about the border between Mexico and the U.S and the crossing of the border by Mexican Immigrants. Recently celebrated was one of Mexico’s biggest cultural traditions: Dia de los Muertos (Day of The Dead). This holiday that is celebrated together by friends and families remembers the lives of those no longer living by celebrating the various events in their lives and also praying for their souls. In order to fully capture the connection between Dia de los Muertos and the unfortunate belief about the Mexican Immigrants and U.S citizens along the border, an altar was built. This altar represented the life along the border for the U.S citizens as well as the Mexican Citizens on the other side, it also represented the lives lost along the border by Mexican immigrants eager to get into U.S soil and get their own chance at the pursuit of the American dream. This altar in addition to representing the already mentioned subjects, it goes deeper to specifically point out issues of poverty, death and also the challenges that the border presents to local citizens.
Cheekwood served as a colossal learning experience for me, because I...